New Meadowlands: Allianz?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

So what do you all think of the new Meadowlands possibly being named after Alllianz, given that company's past history with Nazi Germany?

Link

 

[Hermiod]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

Wouldn't be the first time - see here.

Nobody is more sensitive about Germany's Nazi past than the Germans themselves yet they built this stadium as part of their hosting of the World Cup in 2006.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

So what is New York's sizable Jewish population supposed to think?

 

[Hermiod]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

So what is New York's sizable Jewish population supposed to think?

I don't know, what is Munich's sizeable Jewish population (the second largest in Germany) supposed to think ?

 

[Roger Wilco]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

So what is New York's sizable Jewish population supposed to think?

I think it's absurd; would these people be so "outraged" if it was Daimler, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, Volkswagen, ThyssenKrupp or whatever too? I mean come on, WWII ended 63 years ago.

 

[SmoothieX]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

I've heard about this. I don't like corporately named stadiums to start with and the name for this one just sounds odd.

As for the previous Nazi ties, I don't know what to tell you. You'd think it'd be no big deal but people find a way to be offended by everything these days.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

So what is New York's sizable Jewish population supposed to think?

I think it's absurd; would these people be so "outraged" if it was Daimler, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, Volkswagen, ThyssenKrupp or whatever too?

Depends. Did any of those companies have executives who also *served in Hitler's own cabinet*? There's a difference between simply doing business with the Nazi government and being part of it.

I mean come on, WWII ended 63 years ago.

I hope you're not suggesting we forget the Holocaust ever happened.

Anyway, I saw on the news that the Giants & Jets have broken off talks with Allianz. So apparently the deal is off.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

I hope you're not suggesting we forget the Holocaust ever happened.

No, of course not, but people could try to stop holding grudges.
And all the companies I mentioned were heavily involved with the Nazi regime.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

I think it's safe to say that anyone who was involved in those companies in the 1940s no longer are.

 

[Mallory]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

Well, it's not going to happen. Both teams broken off negotiations with Allianz over the potential naming rights.

 

[Green Shirt]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

So what is New York's sizable Jewish population supposed to think?

Do they go to the games?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Re: Should Allianz be allowed to purchase Meadowlands naming rights?

And all the companies I mentioned were heavily involved with the Nazi regime.

Did you remember what I said about an Allianz senior exec actually being part of Hitler's cabinet? That goes beyond being simply allied with the Nazi government. Their own CEO (before the war) *was* a Nazi!

From the Wiki link:

Kurt Schmitt, Allianz chief executive in the 1930s, served as Hitler’s Reich Economy Minister from June 1933 until January 1935, and can be seen in photographs from a rally wearing an SS-Oberführer’s uniform and delivering the Nazi salute with Hitler standing in front of him. Eduard Hilgard, a general director of Allianz, was head of the Reich Association for Private Insurance during the entire Nazi regime

That is what really elevates this discussion over all the other ones (about companies doing business with the Nazis). I think it extremely unlikely that any of those other firms ever had executives who actually were practicing Nazis and who served in Hitler's own cabinet. That makes Allianz a special case.

If nothing else, I would think that the controversy over Allianz interest in the New Meadowlands naming rights would be at least partly understandable. People didn't just make this stuff up. Groups (not only Jewish) who were upset over this, had legitimate reasons for it. Don't you agree on that, at least?

As for the Allianz Arena: Never been there. Never been to Germany at all (although I'd like to). So I can't comment on how that went down. Was there any kind of controversy in Germany when that arena was named?